Somewhere you belong
by Claude Amelia Song
Summary: "Family isn't always blood. It's the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones that would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what". Alya had tried all her life to belong, an unfortunate attack of the carriage she was in and her journey to find those she hold dear make her realise she already her place.


**Dedicated to my wonderful pocket friends. I wouldn't be me without you.**

Ilvermorny

Year 5

Theme: The Burrow: focuses on a warm family life where a little goes a long way with a bit of love.

Main Prompt 2. [Colour] Emerald Green

Optional prompts:

5\. [character] Lily Luna Potter

15\. [Weather] Thunderstorm

Bonus: Write a setting you've never done before. I haven't done either of the settings used in this story, not the Sierra National Forests, nor random cafe at the outskirts of San Jose and nor the beach of Santa Cruz.

**Betaed by Oni, Shini, Viola and Crissie! Thank you all so much!**

**Author's Note: **The buzzword I used for the theme is _**Experiencing warm family life outside of your family. **_This means so much to me, cause I have found family beyond my family and there are some that I call my own. My character has found family in her animal friends and this crazy journey she has made her realise she already belongs to a home, even if it's not a material one.

Spellophone is a magical phone created by Hermione Granger. Also, green is a word usually used in American English for those inexperienced, in the story my character believes it means dreamer/nature lover. Why they really mean is inexperienced in life, naive.

**Green colour meaning**: The colour green relates to balance and harmony. From a colour psychology perspective, it is the great balancer of the heart and the emotions, creating equilibrium between the head and the heart. From a meaning of colours perspective, green is also the colour of growth, the colour of spring, of renewal and rebirth. It renews and restores depleted energy. It is the sanctuary away from the

stresses of modern living, restoring us back to a sense of well being. **Green is an emotionally positive colour, giving us the ability to love and nurture ourselves and others unconditionally. A natural peacemaker, it must avoid the tendency to become a martyr****.** Being a combination of yellow and blue, green encompasses the mental clarity and optimism of yellow with the emotional calm and insight of blue, inspiring hope and a generosity of spirit not available from other colours.**T****his is a colour that has a strong sense of right or wrong, inviting good ****judgement****. It sees both sides of the equation, weighs them up, and then usually takes the moral stand in making appropriate decisions. It's friendly and can keep confidences, a good listener. It relates to stability and endurance, giving us persistence and the strength to cope with adversity.**

**Green also represents hope; the anticipation of things to come. The colour green affects us physically and mentally in several different ways. Green is a colour that helps alleviate anxiety, depression, and nervousness. **Green also brings with it a sense of hope, health, adventure, and renewal, as well as self-control and compassion.

** Word count: 3730 (plus the 10%)**

* * *

Alya loved animals; she always felt more like herself when surrounded by them. That was why, out of all possible things she could have chosen to do as a Hogwarts top graduate, she'd chosen Magizoology. She'd accepted an internship at the Saguaro Magical Reservation in Arizona and she'd moved in an apartment in Phoenix. Sure, she had to use the Floo everyday, but being from London, she was used to living in a big city, unlike the little magical village near the reservation.

However, Phoenix was _nothing _like London. It was _sunny_—very sunny. Fortunately for her, the Saguaro Magical Reservation was an exclusive haven. Everything was green all year round. They were renowned for the Thunderbirds that resided there. Saguaro provided the Ilvermorny Reservation with 10 Thunderbirds every two decades. The school reservation was considerably smaller. Alya had been a child when she had first seen the Thunderbird 'change of guard'; her mother's best friend had taken them to see it on holiday. It was beautiful to see those majestic birds. It was like they knew that they weren't staying forever at Ilvermorny and embraced their temporary home.

That had been the first time she'd seen the beauty of nature and the last time she'd felt that perfect harmony and peace in her life. She had promised herself that one day she'd return. Finally, her dream had come true. She had been accepted as one of the five interns the Reservation took each year.

Alya was elated to be one of the three people doing the change, but she was a bit confused as to why they were changing the Thunderbirds earlier than planned. It hadn't been 20 years since the last change, but she thought that perhaps the Ilvermorny reservation had more than they could manage. After all, there was a reason they brought just ten.

The other interns hadn't been happy that she, a _foreigner_, had been chosen to go with the Thunderbirds. The other four interns had all been from the Salem Institute of Magic. Her friends were back home, thinking she was having the time of her life. In a way she was, but she felt alone. Well, not completely alone. She had Marlye and Tia, her two animal companions. Marlye was her little white dove, instead off the usual owl and Tia was her Thestral. Tia had been a Hogwarts Thestral, but Professor Hagrid and the Headmistress had let Alya take her, seeing what good friends they were. Tia was staying in the Reservation, but both Tia and Marlye were allowed to come with her to change the Thunderbirds. The other two people were her supervisors, Mr Glenn Hammersmith, and Miss Carly Epping. Both hated her because they'd heard her giggling about their names, but was it her fault that their names were places in London? Nevertheless, they had chosen her because she was "green". Despite their ridicule of her, even they had to admit that Alya had a deep connection with magical animals. They thought she could help in keeping the Thunderbirds calm during the storm season. There would also be escorts and riders, but they were the "experts".

She had chosen to ride Tia instead of being in the carriage with Hammersmith and Epping, dutifully watching the cargo box being carried by Abraxan Horses and looking through the window at Cassie, the youngest Thunderbird. It was an hour into the flight when she realised that something wasn't quite right. She could see the Grand Canyon, which meant they were going North when they should have gone East.

"Tia, fly a bit faster. I have to talk with the guards. We are going in the wrong direction," she told her Thestral, looking worriedly at the carriage. She could see sparks coming out of it.

"Hey!" she shouted at the escorts. "What's going on? I can see the Grand Canyon! We're flying in the wrong direction!"

Two of the guards turned to her and looked at her in a somewhat weird way.

"Oh, green girl, you should have stayed in the carriage," one of them said and started flying towards her.

Alya didn't know what to answer and tilted her head to see better. Was she having problems seeing, or were sparks really coming from the carriage? Looking closely she saw Hammersmith and Epping angering the Thunderbirds and forcing them into defence mode. Seeing them act so cruelly towards the animals angered her.

"Stop, please! You're hurting them!" she shouted, despite knowing they couldn't hear her.

"Shut up!" the other man said and both made another move towards her.

It was then that Alya realised what was happening. They were making the Thunderbirds angry on purpose to create a storm inside the carriage. The carriage was invulnerable from the outside, and it couldn't be opened by anyone but the Headmaster of Ilvermorny, but it _could_ be destroyed from the inside. She could see Cassie struggling to resist the urge to create a storm. She knew that Thunderbirds were intelligent creatures; her heart broke to see what they were going through. She tried to out-fly the guards and somehow get closer to the carriage, but it was too late. The explosion that followed was unlike anything else she had seen. Everything seemed to move in slow motion.

She tried to fly Tia away from the explosion, but the blast was too powerful. They all fell from the sky and were carried by the wind. When she woke up, she was in a forest and it was raining. A shiver ran through her; it was a beautiful place and the rain wasn't cold, but she couldn't shake off the cold feeling of betrayal.

Sure, Hammersmith and Epping were not the nicest people, but she couldn't believe that they would be involved in the black market for protected magical species. It was wrong! They were _Magizoologists_; how could they? She understood now why they had chosen her. It wasn't because she was "green" and needed experience keeping an eye on animals. No, they had chosen her because they saw her as stupid and naive enough to trust them on their own inside the carriage. There was a reason they were supposed to be three people inside: supervisor, teacher, and an intern. Thunderbirds were sold for millions on the black market and were strictly protected by law. Everyone knew that they had to be transported securely, that was why the carriage was impossible to destroy with the usual blasting spells from outside and even inside, one would need incredible magical abilities to break it.

_Or ten angry and scared Thunderbirds._

Supposedly, they also had ten loyal guards to escort them. But it was obvious they had been compromised. And now she was alone, soaking wet, and there was a thunderstorm brewing. She was pretty sure she saw the Thunderbirds escaping, but she wasn't sure how many humans had survived. How stupid their plan had been. To try it from inside was one thing, but to make the poor creatures do it...was insane. Surely, it had killed them! The explosion, the carriage, the guards, the animals...everything was clouded in her mind. _"The animals!"_

"Tia, Marlye! Are you okay?" she shouted, going over where the Thestral was lying. But to her relief, she could see that thankfully they were breathing, but she had no means to contact anyone and she'd lost her want during the fall. Marlye was hurt, and Tia was weakened by the blast. She looked around the forest, but she had absolutely no idea where she was.

It appeared to be midday and she was thankful she still had her backpack with her. She could do some wandless magic, but not enough to get her out of serious danger. She'd never seen the guards that had attacked her before, but she also hadn't questioned why they had two new people. She hadn't asked a lot of questions when she should have. She'd spent her days prior to the trip befriending the Thunderbirds. They had become part of her animal family. So what if they weren't human? They had feelings too! The proof was in the thunderstorm above her. They had made it and it was by far the most powerful she'd seen.

Alya knew she had to try and find the guards and most importantly the Thunderbirds and calm them down. She couldn't really figure out where she was, but considering that she had seen the Grand Canyon when they were flying, and the direction of the wind in the storm, she figured that she was somewhere in Southern California. Death Valley National Park had two apparition points and she knew that there was a wizarding village somewhere in the Sierra National Forest. Maybe she could find her way there and go back. Not that she knew where to go first. She couldn't go back at the reservation; she didn't know who had orchestrated the plot. It had to be an internal betrayal, as there was no one from the outside the Saguaro Reservation that knew about the change except the Ilvermorny Headmaster. She could not imagine the amazing Algilbert Fontaine doing something like this. He was a Pukwudgie to the core, and a direct descendant of Theodard Fontaine, one of the twelve original American Aurors. Besides, she'd met with him when they introduced her as the intern who was going to help the Thunderbirds settle in for the first couple of days. No way that man had an evil bone in his body.

She tried to stay positive and to hope that everything was going to be alright and that she would find the Thunderbirds. She was a Magizoologist, not an Auror; she didn't have detective training, but if there was one thing Alya knew it was nature and animals, and she knew the way of the forest better than anyone else. She loved her job and she had worked hard to be the best in her field. She wasn't going to let people like Hammersmith and Epping hurt those she cared about. So with new courage, she hugged Tia closely and put Marlye to sleep under the trees as far away from the rain as possible. Seeing her friends so weak made her angry. No one messed with her family. They were going to pay. She took some food from her backpack and they all ate while they rested.

"We're gonna stay here for a while," she said, pulling a parka from her backpack and putting it over them. She could take the rain. Her family needed it more.

A few hours later, she asked Tia to stand, even though it broke her heart. She didn't know the time and they had to move to make progress. More importantly, she had to figure out where they were. However, it seemed that she had been right to hope because after one hour of walking through the forest aimlessly she heard voices. She recognised one of them; the voice of one Lily Luna Potter. She was both a renowned Magizoologist and the daughter of Harry Potter. Alya realised she must be in a forest from the Sierra National Forests, that was where Lily was doing her research on native species. She was so happy to hear a familiar voice, especially one she admired so much. Alya had been a first-year when Lily had graduated, but she knew she could trust her. She burst from between the trees and immediately asked for help. Lily was with two other people; her research team members Ophelia Malfoy and Estelle Novelsouth, also well-known Magizoologists.

"Of course we'll help you," Lily said and contacted her father using her spellophone because, like Alya, she knew well that they couldn't know who to trust. She told her father what was going on and that he should talk with local authorities that he trusted to get it right because the guards knew that Alya could identify them. She described them and he gave them instructions not to do anything stupid before they met with the help team.

The four of them with Tia and Marlye went to search for the Thunderbirds. Since the thunderstorm was still raging, Lily gave Alya an impermeable rain jacket. And then, they followed the storm on their brooms/thestral. They were cold and tired, but they didn't dare stop, but for a couple of hours to rest. It seemed that the storm was heading West, towards the ocean, which wasn't good at all. They couldn't let the Thunderbirds reach the Pacific and leave the States. By the looks of it they were going towards San Francisco. She knew that they had to do something before Muggle authorities took notice of a huge, unnatural thunderstorm during the wrong time of year.

The rain was endless and awful and they've been flying for almost 48 hours. She could feel herself crumbling from the pressure. She tried to remain positive, but it was hard; they'd been flying for hours and no sign of them. And not for the first time in her life, she was feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Usually, she was so in sync with everything, but now, thanks to those awful people, nature was unbalanced and she was feeling the same way.

They stopped in San Jose for dinner, having figured that even if the guards were after her and not the Thunderbirds, they wouldn't think of searching in a small cafe. Alya felt she could cry forever, she excused herself and went to stand by the entrance to watch the rain.

"Hey, are you alright?" Lily asked, putting an arm on her shoulder.

"No, I am not. What's happening is my fault. I've been trying so hard to please them. But they still didn't like me. They called me 'green girl' and they were right." Alya tried to hold back her tears.

"No sweetie, don't say that." Lily patted Alya's arm.

"I can't go back to the reservation. I don't know who trust any longer." A few tears dripped down her nose, but Alya could not bother to wipe them away.

"Do you _want_ to go back? Look, we've been with you for two days. You're amazing. You_ are _doing the right thing. It was all because of your love of animals and the animal friends you brought with you that you had a chance to survive. Your decision to stay with Tia outside that compartment saved your life. You would have tried to stop them. And from what you've told us they've been treating you terribly. They don't deserve you."

"I suppose,'' she whispered. "I thought it could be my home. I thought I could finally belong somewhere. I thought they would like me if they just saw what I could do...if I could prove I wasn't just some 'green' kid in over my head."

"If they don't like you for you, it's their loss. You love nature, you love animals, and you love flowers—that's why you are there, to learn to be a good Magizoologist! You have friends, you don't need those terrible people to make a home. You can make a home with people who feel the same as you."

"What if I can't? What if I am too broken? I come from a broken home and I feel like I'm running out of time. Especially when my animal friends are still healing and I don't know how we will get the Thunderbirds calmed down!"

"You're worrying too much about what happened yesterday. The past is a reason why it's the past. You know what? While my father didn't come from a broken home, he was the broken part in his family's eyes. He worried that he would be a terrible father after the war, but he wasn't. He was amazing. Don't let your past decide who are you going to be. Don't let what happened yesterday influence your today.

"If there's one thing I've learned, it's that you cannot be sure about anything. Look at me and Ophelia. Neither one of us would have said we wanted to be Magizoologists if asked in the first year. As for Estelle, she'd graduated Ilvermorny and tried to get into the Fire Division Academy to work with vampires, but she failed the test.

"Generations and generations of her family had worked with vampires, but in the end, she became a Magizoologist because this is what is right for her. She likes it better in nature. Your family does not mean just blood relatives, your friends are also your family and I think you're a wonderful person. They were foolish to treat you so cruelly. Come on, let's go and eat dessert."

"You girls are pretty great too. I have followed your work, but you are _way_ cooler in real life."

"I sound older in my articles, but I am young at heart if you know what I mean." Lily winked.

"I suppose." Alya hated that her voice was still small and cracking a bit.

At that Lily turned and putting an arm on her shoulder said:

"Look today is today. So what if they tricked you yesterday? They won't trick you today. They were stupid for thinking you wouldn't recognise the Grand Canyon while you were flying over it, just because you're not from the States."

Just as they were leaving, Lily's father called and told them that there had been a leak at the Reservation. The authorities had found the bodies of the real guards hidden in a shed. It was believed that the impostors had disguised themselves with a modified Polyjuice potion. As for the two guards who had survived, nobody knew where they came from.

He told them to wait for help, that the team was on their way, but as he spoke, Alya saw many pairs of wings moving in the eye of the storm through the cafe's window.

There was no time to lose.

"Dad, the Thunderbirds are here." Lily's face was white with shock. She hadn't expected to see them so low in the atmosphere.

"Where?" Head Auror Potter's voice was staticky.

"Outside San Jose in California. My team brought our brooms and Alya has her Thestral. Tell your people to move as fast as they can, but we're going. If we don't try and calm them down, there could be a massive flood and people could be killed. It's been raining continuously for nearly two days. We need to stop them!"

As they took to the sky they could see that all of the Thunderbirds were flying in formation in the eye of the storm. To their surprise so were ten other people, including the two impostor guards, who were trying to catch the Thunderbirds.

The four witches split up and tried to come up with a plan. There were fewer of them, but they were skilled. Even Alya, who was a harmonious nature girl, flew more aggressively than she ever had before, calling out to the Thunderbirds to soothe them. As soon as they saw her, the Thunderbirds calmed down and the storm began to wane. They didn't want to hurt their friend.

Apparition cracks could be heard. A huge group of California Officers Of Litigious Sorcery (or COOLS team) had arrived and easily subdued the three men who had managed to avoid Lily's team stunners. However, Alya noticed that Cassie and the two guards were missing. In the chaos, they were trying to get away with the smallest Thunderbird.

"Let her go!"

"And who's gonna stop me? You? The loser green girl with no wand and her stupid horse?"

"One, my horse is a Thestral. Two, she's not stupid. And three, I may be a green girl as your former bosses called me, but do you know what? I don't care. I'm learning from my mistakes. Your bosses were supposed to be so smart but they are dead because they forgot the ways of nature."

And with all the love she felt for the new member of her family, she said, "Accio Cassie."

The young Thunderbird tied up in their arms came flying towards her. Alya caught the Thunderbird and held her tightly before looking at the impostor guards (who had been apprehended by the COOLS team) with triumph in her eyes. "I win."

* * *

After everything, the witches settled down further west, on the Seabright Beach. Alya was trembling and Cassie had yet to leave her side. Nevertheless, she was happy they were safe now.

"Looks like they finished interrogating them. Apparently, they worked for a creature trafficking ring and had infiltrated the reservation waiting for the change in guard," said Lily patting Alya's shoulder.

"They sent an elf to spy at Ilvermorny," added Estelle.

"Hammersmith and Epping were the henchmen, but we don't know who they were working for. Seems like they died, the poor dears." However, Ophelia didn't sound sympathetic at all.

"I still can barely believe that they'd do such an evil thing." Alya shook her head.

"Don't worry about it Alya—" started Lily, but the young girl interrupted her.

"I know, I know. That was yesterday, and today everyone is safe. But there's been a storm for two days. If I had been more careful…"

"No, you're just an intern. It wasn't your job to do. Do you understand that? Look, I told you, you don't have to be there to belong. Your place is where you fill that warmth; I realised I found my career when I felt just as warm in the middle of a forest with my animals as at the Burrow with my family and grandma's food. When you find it that's where your home is."

Alya smiled at that. She wasn't going to say anything yet, but looking at the other witches surrounding her and at the past two days she felt she may have found her home already.

"Let's go have some hot chocolate," Estelle said, seeing Alya's look.

"We deserve it!" Ophelia added.

The four girls left the beach smiling, arm in arm with a dove, a Thestral, and a Thunderbird at their side. They were quite a sight but they were a nice sight. And yes, yesterday there might have been a storm, but today as they left the beach, there was a rainbow behind them and the sun was shining brightly.


End file.
